Great day on the ice with Harrison & his wife Emily from Ct. Despite the cold temps we still managed to stay warm! Good day to be in a shelter jigging while the dead line polars do the outside work for you. Plenty of fish were landed today! We even managed to have a BBQ for lunch!

Careful what you wish for! Instead of the unwanted east winds from a couple of days earlier, today saw another hurricane like day. The winds were blowing 15 to 25 knots from the SW with gust over 35. Couple that with the 20 to 30 millimeters of rain that fell overnight and residual falling rains this morning and you have the makings of an absolutely perfect day! Darren was with me for his last chance at open water fishing for the year and hoping for a few big fish. I decided to start in the same area I had done well in only two days earlier, but unfortunately it was completely void. I had to find them again! With a little exploring, I did just that and Darren was into a really good fish, right away! The winds weren’t helping much by pushing us all over and boat control was quite difficult. We covered similar areas and he continued to boat decent fish throughout the morning. By afternoon I decided to slow down and fish a little deeper in hopes of getting a mix of walleye & smallies. The bites were extremely hard to detect and more fish were missed than landed. Despite this however, there were some nice bass and a few walleye brought to net. We were limited to where we could fish with the big blow and even the drifts were difficult to complete properly. In the end, I decided to stick with only casting as it seemed to be working somewhat better. We managed to pick a fish here & there but other than one area, I never really found any concentrations. Darren had caught five fish on almost as many casts there before it just died. I guess he got them all! We remained on the water until about 3:30 before calling it a day. It would be nice to get out of the wind tunnel we had been in and relax on the drive home. Although today had not gone the way I had hoped, we adjusted to the conditions and still put many fish in the boat. With December upon us now, there’s very little time left before the boat goes into hibernation. I am still hoping to get back out, but you just never know what Mother Nature has planned in the coming weeks.  This may have been the last time for me as well. Hopefully not though with plenty more walleye & bass coming aboard. Only time will tell what the future will bring!!

I was finally back on the water again today after a long dry spell of inactivity. Scott, Manson & their friend John (aka Keep) were with me, looking for some smallie action. It started out a little sketchy as I left my house, driving in below freezing temps. It might not have been so bad, if it wasn’t raining! The roads were a little slippery and I knew it would be a long drive when I was stuck in traffic for almost 45 minutes. People really need to learn how to drive defensively! We finally hooked up before 9:30 and were into fish almost immediately after. Scott drew first blood and the others followed with several of their own. I was searching for active fish and managed to find an area where they all had their chances. Although most were in the 3 pound range, there were several quality ones in the mix. I covered plenty of water looking for the bigger fish, but had a difficult time filtering through the average ones. Eventually I switched presentations and locations and Scott was immediately into a good one. It also turned out to be the largest of the day! The east wind wasn’t allowing me to drift properly with three fishing and I had to move again in order to get them back into fish. Eventually I found the area I wanted and had them casting and covering water one more time. The bites were slow but if you paid attention, you hooked up. Even the” Keep” managed to get into a few bass so I knew there were more! Scott and Manson took turns in the front of the boat but it really didn’t seem to matter. It was a large area and the fish were everywhere! Along with the bass, there were also a few walleye landed that were returned back to the water as well. We stayed out fishing a little longer than I usually do at this time of the year to make up for the delay this morning. Fortunately the fish cooperated pretty much right till the end before we called the day. Despite the slow fishing, there was still a good amount of fish landed by everyone under not so perfect conditions. It’s always tough in an east wind to properly present the baits but we managed nonetheless! By making the necessary adjustments, were able to fish slower and get more bites. I’ll be back out again soon and hopefully the weather will cooperate a little better. But probably not!!

Craig & Herm were back this morning and the fog was just as thick as yesterday. Unfortunately it didn’t lift like the day before, by the time we reached the ramp. We launched in the really thick stuff and I had to be extremely careful for the run. Needless to say, I didn’t race to our starting spot but rather slowly made our way there with all eyes open. GPS is a necessity these days but radar would have been even better! We arrived safely and it didn’t take long before they were hooking up. Both Craig & Herm were into fish in the first couple of minutes and they were good ones. I was fortunate enough to have a little visibility allowing me to remain in the area I wanted. As soon as I moved off though, they didn’t get bit. This went on for a few hours and many, many fish were boated throughout this period. I could hear boats running in the distance several times, but we never even saw them. As I didn’t want to venture too far from land, I remained close to the shore for the morning. I think it finally lifted after 1:00 and the sun actually came out of hiding for the afternoon. Along with the sun, plenty of other boats also came out! They must have been waiting for the same thing because now many of them were running all over the water. We on the other hand, stayed put and covered water slowly and efficiently. When the smaller fish became more present, I made adjustments and got them on the bigger ones again. By fishing slowly in the right areas we were able to repeat yesterdays results, less a couple of giants! The fishing has been incredible lately and unless something drastic changes, it should continue right through till the end of the month. Maybe even into December! All I know is that the big fish are eating now and with the right adjustments, they can be caught. Craig & Herm can attest to this as they both had an incredible two days of fishing, catching all kinds of big bass. Despite all the traffic, they were still able to boat plenty of smallies before we ended the day shortly after 3:15. Darkness sets in early nowadays and it’s always nice to get home in the light & they had a long drive too. This will be their last shot at giant smallies, but not mine. I hope to get back out several more times before the waters freeze over signaling another season is done. As much as I enjoy the hard water fishing, I prefer open water and the flexibility of moving around in the boat. Let’s just hope Mother Nature is kind to us and extends the season a little longer. Too many fish, too little time!!

Craig was back again for a couple of days and accompanied by Herm this time. They had been here a few weeks back in October and had unbelievable wind & rain for 2 straight days. Hopefully this time the weather would be a little nicer! We headed to the water in dense fog and I prayed it would lift soon. Although GPS can get you to where you need to be, limited visibility and danger is present! Luckily it cleared and we had beautiful sunshine throughout the day. This was definitely different from what they usually experience! It didn’t take long once we stopped for the first fish to get hooked. Herm was into a really nice one and I knew there would be more. Craig followed up quickly with an even bigger one and things were looking great for the day. I kept the boat in the area and they just hammered fish of all sizes in the first couple of hours. Craig even managed to get into a real beauty that we thought would be the big fish of the day. This would soon change with what was coming up next! With this nice weather I knew we would have company today and carefully picked places to fish. I slowly fished down to an area nearby in hopes of getting into more fish, but a boat ran into the spot first. Oh well, let the games begin! I stayed my distance and worked the water above, gradually fishing along our way. Long before we got close, Herm locked up on a monster and the other boat saw the fish, when it jumped. As I was now off the electric motor, we were gradually drifting towards the boat. Without hesitation, he drifted out of the area allowing us room to land this beast. This courteous gesture is quite rare these days, amongst the other boats and Christian showed me his true tournament colors. He gave way without hesitation and didn’t even think twice. I thanked him afterwards and we went our separate ways. Karma has a way of coming back and this will not go unreturned! Herm on the other hand had just landed his personal best and it was giant! Multiple shots were taken along with measurements for a future fibreglass mount. He would be adding yet another wall hanger to his trophy room back home and we needed to get it right! Back she went as quickly as possible to give someone else the same pleasure, another day. We resumed our fishing in hopes of more of these giant smallies, but never came close. Although there were plenty of other big fish caught, we would have to settle for just the two today. I don’t think any of us were use to fishing in conditions like these but we didn’t mind. Usually we are faced with hell and have to work hard for every fish we catch. I guess it had to happen sooner or later! With the weather & fishing like it was, the day passed fast and before we knew it, we were heading home. Plenty of pictures as well as great memories were made on this spectacular fall outing. We’re all looking forward to getting back out tomorrow as the forecast calls for even nicer weather. Let’s see if they can get it right, two days in a row. My money’s riding on a big fat no, but I’m crossing my fingers regardless!!